Sewing-machine needle



(No Model.) I I J.-M. FARMER.

SEWING MACHINE NEEDLE.

No. 517 853. Patented, Apr. 10, 1894.

UNITED STATE- s PATENT OFFICE,

JULIUS M. FARMER, on MILWAUKEE, ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF To ,HENRY REUTERAND ALEXANDER L. REUTER, OF RICH LAKE, wISooNSIN.

SEWING-MACHINE NEEDLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 517,853, dated April10, 1894.

Application filed July 3, 1893. Serial No. 479,440- (No model.)

I To all whom it may concern:

'I citizen of the United States, and a resident of Milwaukee, in thecounty of Milwaukee, and 1n the State of Wisconsin, have invented certamnew and useful Improvements in Sewing- Machine Needles; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in sewing machineneedles, and consists in the matters hereinafter described and pointedout in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a slde elevation of myimproved form of needle. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the lower part ofthe needle, taken at right angles to FIg. 1. Fig. 3 is a transversesectional view of the same, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

In. said drawings, A represents the shaft of the needle provided nearits point with the usual eye B. A slot Ois formed in one side of theneedle and extends obliquely into the side of the needle as illustratedin the-drawings, and communicates with the eye B, this slot commencing alittle above the level of the top of the eye, and extending downwardlyand obliquely inward until it intersects the eye in the manner shown. Bythus forming the slot 0, a thin lip D is provided at the upper edge ofthe slot and at the opposite lower edge of Said slot, where it entersthe eye, a similar lip E is formed upon the inner face of the wall ofthe eye.

In threading the needle, the thread may be readily drawn over the lip Das shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, so as to spring said lip inwardly toadmit the thread to the slot 0, and then, by pulling upon the thread, itwill follow the slot 0, raising the lip D slightly as it passes beneathit, and will finally slip through the slot into the eye. After thethread enters the eye B, it will be drawn up by the tension device uponthe machine, so as to engage with the upper part of the eye above thelip E.

The shaft A of the needle is preferably provided with the usuallongitudinal groove F which extends upwardly from the eye, and thethread extends upward through said groove at the side of the needle inthe ordinary manner.

By my improved construction, the needle may be very easily and quicklythreaded by drawing the thread sidewise through the slot in the side ofthe needle and the necessity of passing the end of the thread throughthe eye of the needle is thus entirely obviated.

My improved needle will pass freely through the goods without catchingupon the fiber or threads of the same, and will therefore operate in theusual manner when placed in the needle bar of a sewing machine.

By the particular construction of the slot 0 so as to commence a littleabove the level of the eye B, the lip D is caused to rest against thebody of the shaft A and is firmly supported thereby against inwardpressure, while at the same-time being free to spring outwardly topermit the thread to enter, said lip normally resting snugly against thebody of the needle so as to presenta smooth and uniform surface.

By reason of the'hereinbefore described inward oblique cut of the slot0, shown particularly in Fig. 3, with the upper termination of said slotabove the top of the eye in the needle, as shown in Fig.1, a greatadvantage is obtained in the use of my needle over needles wherein theslot, although diagonal or oblique from one side to the other, is yetcut through to the eye on a straight line at right angles to the lengthof the needle, or wherein the diagonal slot does not extend above thetop of the eye of the needle, as, in both classes of devices just namedthe tendency of the needle in use is for the metal above and below saidslot to yield or spring slightly inward andoutward and thereby to catchin the threads of the fabric being sewed. With my improved-needle, byreason of the inward oblique under cut of the said diagonal or obliqueslot, the part of the metal at the cut toward the point of the needlerests upon and is supported by the part of the metal at the cuttowardthe other end of the needle, and as this oblique under cut beginsabove the top of the eye of the needle, the said lower part of theneedle at the cut is elfectually guarded from any yield or inwardspring, and

further as the adjacent edges of the metal, at

said out, are perfectly true and parallel, and the exterior surface ofthe needle smooth and uniform above and below said cut, it follows that(as there is no possibility of any inward or outward spring of theneedle in use, for reasons already given) there are no irregularities,either normal or created by use, to cause any catching or interferenceof the needle with the fabric being sewed through. On its downwardstroke, the lower part of the needle, being under cut, as stated,protects the upper part of the metal lying beneath it, and on the returnor upward stroke of the needle thereis no outwardly projecting oroutwardly sprung portion of the metal, nor any inequality of surface toofier resistance.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters- Patent, is-

A sewing machine needle provided with an eye near the point thereof anda threading slot communicating with said eye formed by a cut, the saidout being in a plane oblique to the longitudinal axis of the said needleand at the same time diagonal to the said axis, starting from a point inthe body above the eye on the one side of the needle and terminating ata point below the center of the eye on the other side of the needle,whereby the part of the metal at the cut continuous with the lower orpoint end of the needle overlies and rests upon the part of the metalcontinuous with the body of the needle for the entire length of saidout, and also rests upon the under cut metal of said body above the topof the eye, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, atMilwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, in thepresence of two witnesses.

JULIUS M. FARMER.

Witnesses:

JOHN E. WILES, H. G. UNDERWOOD.

Correction in Letters Patent No. 517,853.

It is hereby certified that the residenoeof the assignees in LettersPatent N 0. 517,853, granted April 10, 1894, upon the application ofJulius M. Farmer, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for an improvement inSewing-Machine Needles, was erroneously written and printed Rich Lake;that said residence should have been written and printed Rice Lake andthat the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction thereinthat the same may conform to the record of the casein the Patent Office.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 8th day of May, A. D. 1894.

[SEAL] JNO. M. REYNOLDS,

Assistant Secretary of the Interior. Oountersigned JOHN S. SEYMOUR,

Commissioner of Patents.

